Stormy apartments: investors are losing interest in apartments
Private investors have begun to shift from the traditional purchase of apartments for rent to hotel rooms. A few years ago, 80% of potential buyers of properties in southern Russia were interested in apartments, but now this figure has dropped to 30%, experts say. But the market for professionally managed hotel rooms is growing rapidly. The reasons for the trend change can be found in the Izvestia article.
How the real estate market is growing in management
In 2025, more than 80 new hotel facilities entered the Russian market, and the number of rooms expanded by 17% to 160 thousand units, including apartments, houses, cottages, and modules, according to data from the Domos real estate platform, which was reviewed by Izvestia.
"If a few years ago, 80% of clients in the south of Russia considered apartments exclusively, then in 2025, 10.5 thousand transactions already accounted for professional-managed hotel formats, and since the beginning of 2026, another 3.4 thousand," said Sergey Brazhnik, head of the platform.
According to him, previously about 80% of buyers purchased apartments for the purpose of renting. Now this share has decreased to about 30%.
The volume of investments in hotel real estate last year reached 60 billion rubles, showing an increase of 57% compared to the figures of 2024.
The average cost of a ready-made hotel room purchased by a private investor in the South of Russia (Crimea, Krasnodar Territory, Arkhyz and Dombay) now stands at 17 million rubles. Moreover, in Anapa, the entry threshold starts at 11 million, and in Sochi, where high-budget facilities are represented due to the high cost of land, rooms and apartments are sold at prices starting from 22 million rubles.
The trend continues in 2026: about 10,000 new hotel rooms are expected to be commissioned in the country, which is 20% more than a year earlier. The South of Russia remains one of the most actively developing areas. For example, the demand for service apartments and hotel rooms in Anapa has increased by 35% since the beginning of 2026, while interest in buying ordinary apartments for rent has fallen by 22%.
As of April 2026, the share of service apartments in the total supply of resort real estate reached 74%, said Olga Troyanovskaya, commercial director of the Mantera Group. According to her, this is a record in the history of the Russian market.
"It's important not only the accommodation itself, but also the environment around it —restaurants, spas, recreation areas, hotel—level services," she said.
The trend was also confirmed by Anton Agapov, Deputy General Director of the Yes apartment hotel chain. According to analysts, at the beginning of 2026, the supply of rental apartments significantly exceeded demand. The market has entered a highly competitive phase: It has become more difficult for owners to find tenants, and they are forced to reduce the cost. As a result, the actual profitability of apartments often turns out to be lower than expected and averages about 2-4% per annum.
"Under these conditions, investors are paying attention to more profitable real estate formats," he said. — The profitability of service apartments is 8-10%. Lots in the apart-hotel are sold to investors at the construction stage, and further management is assumed by a professional operator.
In high-quality projects in resort locations, a hotel room managed by an operator allows for up to 17-18% annual profitability.
Where is the service apartment market developing
Service apartments are the type of real estate that interests both private and professional investors, said Irina Pashkovskaya, Head of the Analysis Center at the federal company Etagi.
"This interest is justified by the opportunity to hand over the facility to professional management and receive passive income from it, without getting involved in the process and even being located in another part of the world," she said. — Unlike apartments, where daily rental is associated with organizational difficulties, apartments are more adapted to this. As the popularity of this format increases, prices for such properties will increase, and much will depend on the quality of management of such properties.
Previously, the main concentration of such projects was in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but now the trend is changing.
— The dynamics of construction is noticeably shifting towards cities with millions and large regional centers, — said Anton Agapov. — It is most actively conducted in Kazan, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Vladivostok and other cities where the tourist flow is already showing a multiple increase.
Service apartments are also in demand in the Krasnodar Territory and Crimea, Karelia, Altai, Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Baikal.
— The trend is clearly seen on the example of Novosibirsk, where the partner project "Yes Towers" is currently being implemented, — he said. — By 2030, based on the announced projects, experts predict an increase of up to 50% of the total number of rooms.
Service apartments for Kazan are a new segment, the development of which is conditioned by both general market trends and local specifics, said Andrey Zhamkin, Executive Director of the managing hotel company Kravt h&h, developer of the Yar Park project.
"Kazan is one of the leaders in tourism in the country, including business and event tourism," he noted. — The tourist flow here in 2025 amounted to 5.1 million people, which is 13.3% more than the year before last. It is expected that by 2030 the number of visitors will grow to 7 million people per year, and the turnover of the tourism sector in the city should reach 100 billion rubles.
To develop the market of service apartments in the city, a new multifunctional complex with an area of more than 300 thousand square meters will be built.
— The total volume of service apartments in Yar Park, intended for transfer to the management of a professional management company for the purpose of further obtaining rental income, and service residences for living amounts to 1,927 lots, — said Andrey Zhamkin.
The example of the Mantera Residence projects in Sirius and Sochi shows that 65% of owners use assets for personal residence, and 35% for rental under management of the Management Company. There is a similar project in Krasnaya Polyana, where you can buy a hotel room at Cosmos Selection Sochi Sialia Resort5.
Pros and cons of service apartments
The economy plays a crucial role in changing investor preferences, experts say. The average yield from a long-term apartment rental is lower today than from a hotel room operated by an operator.
—Hotel rooms are chosen by people who consider real estate as an investment tool," said Olga Nart, Deputy General Director of the Luchi resort. "Profitability, professional management by the management company and the hotelier, as well as the opportunity to form and develop an investment portfolio are important to them.
The departure of private investors from rental apartments to service apartments and hotel rooms under management is a long—term trend, not a temporary correction, says Fyodor Sidorov, a private investor and founder of the School of Practical Investment.
"Against this background, for example, in St. Petersburg, prices for service apartments increased by 12% over the year, but demand for space fell by 22% - buyers became more demanding," he noted. — The leading regions are Krasnodar Krai, St. Petersburg and Moscow.
According to him, hotels bring stable revenue to the budget, create jobs and develop infrastructure. The equity mechanism for hotels, which is being worked out by the Ministry of Economic Development, will allow attracting money from private investors directly, bypassing expensive bank loans.
The management company takes over marketing, cleaning, and guest service, taking 45-55% of the revenue. The owner receives 8-12% per annum net on hand, plus an increase in the capitalization of the asset by 15-20%. Among the disadvantages of such apartments are that the profitability depends on seasonality, the risk of force majeure, and there is a possibility that after the introduction of remote control for hotels, the use of a room as permanent residence will be prohibited.
So far, investment transactions with apartments in apartment hotels under construction are protected on a legislative basis, Anton Agapov recalled. They are regulated by Federal Law No. 214, and buyers' funds are placed on escrow accounts. Investors' money is kept in the bank and transferred to the developer only after the facility is put into operation. If the developer does not fulfill its obligations, the funds are returned to the buyer.
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